On November 13, 2005 I competed in the WNPF World Bench Press and Deadlift Championships in Atlantic City, NJ. I competed in the bench press only, Masters Division (55-59), 242 weight class. Weighed in @ 231 lbs.

My first attempt (opener) was 418 lbs. and I got it easily. This was a new World & NJ State record. On my second attempt I moved up to 430 lbs. (195 kilos) and killed it. This was another new World, National and NJ State record in my division. The previous world record was 345 lbs., I crushed that record by 85 lbs. On my third attempt I got a little conserative cause I wanted to break the American recors and own all 3 records, I know I had 450 in me but went for 435 lbs. I got called for uneven lockout and was not credited with the lift. I thought I got it clean but the judges didn't.

This was my best meet to date, it was a dream come true, breaking the world record. This made me a 2 time world champion with a world and national record and 3 NJ state records.

2006 WNPF World Powerlifting Championships in Atlantic City NJ - October 28, 2006

Not sure where I should start at but earlier in the week (Tuesday 10/24) I stained my right shoulder at work, pretty bad. I couldn't even raise my arm. I iced it as much as I could and it helped some. It started to feel somewhat better towards the end of week so I decided to go to the meet anyway and give it a go. This is what happen....

On Saturday October 28, 2006 I competed at the WNPF World Powerlifting Championships in Atlantic City NJ. I weighed in at 212 lbs. and I competed in raw bench, master division 55-59. My warm up went ok, but I did not feel overly strong. I opened with a conservative weight 140 kilos (308.5) and made it easily. On my second attempt I moved up to 150 kilos (330.?). The bar came off my chest with good speed but stalled about 1/2 way up but before I had a chance to grind it out...the one judge yelled out...take it. I knew I had this weight it was just a matter of locking it out. So on my third attempt I stayed with the same weight and stalled again but I flared to soon and got out of grove and missed. I broke the record at my last meet back in September @ 325 lbs. My shoulder was hurting after that miss but I still had to do body weight for reps. I guess the only good thing was there were 2 more bench flights to go before they started the rep competition so I had a chance to rest my shoulder. Once it was my turn for body weight for reps I wasn't even thinking about my shoulder I blocked it out. They loaded 215 lbs. I forget what that was in kilos. I reped out 20 reps and just missed 21 for a new WNPF record in the masters. After that my shoulder was screaming, ice time.

This was surely not one of my better meets but I still had a good time. Even though I did not put up any respectable numbers I still took first place in both raw bench and body weight for reps. I just wished I hadn't strained my shoulder earlier in the week but sometimes things happen unexpectedly...that's life. I'm just fortunate that I got a chance to compete. I'm not one to complain about the judging cause I know they see it at a different view so maybe the bar did drop some.

Right now I'm going to take some time off to get my shoulder healed up then I'm going to start training again in my shirt. Too much heavy raw benching at my age is surly taking a toll on my shoulders. I have got to start training smarter.